ORIGIN

Inspiration: Holiday Gift Ideas For the BaT Fan

We are trolling for much more than cars throughout the year, but particularly during the holidays. Are you like us and haven’t purchased many gifts yet, even 10 days before Christmas? Well, there is plenty of time. Grab some of these for your car pals or yourself, or forward this to your significant other to get them on track! Prices range from $12 to $295. Check them out!

When it comes to garage and paddock gear, factory race coveralls are pretty much the coolest thing going. This Nissan suit looks sharp in baby blue with stripes and logos, and the slight oil stains here and there make give is some legitimacy more than some cheap reproduction. The Japanese letters across the back might translate to Janitor for all we know, but you can tell all your friends it says Supervisor. Find them here on eBay for $218.

Classic & Sports Car Magazine is still the best paper mag in existence when it comes to vintage cars. The coverage of worldwide events, terrific drive reports, buyer’s guides, and honest project cars can’t be beat, and the sales listings throughout each issue are excellent. A year of monthly issues to the USA costs $75 and is available here.

Shell Oil Co. released a vintage Magic of Motoring line of clothing and products to celebrate their heritage, and this X-100 Jacket is the coolest of the bunch. It has heavy stitching and embroidery, and block SHELL letters across the back. We see countless baby blue Gulf McQUeen jackets, but have never seen one of these. Find it for 80 GBP here at MagicOfMotoring.com.

Automoblox are some of the coolest automotive toys you will ever see, most of them looking like show car renderings brought to life. The creator and designer, Patrick Calello, is a BaT fan and vintage car nut, and the quality of his products make them as interesting for adults as for kids. Find the cool pick-up below here at Automoblox.com for $45.

Vintage car magazines seem to have had way fewer advertisements and way more interesting stories. A BaT seller sent us the copy of Sports Car Graphic November 1962 issue below, because it has a road test of the 1963 Corvette. We couldn’t put it down. The technical articles, race coverage, and clean layout is absolutely awesome. You can hardly go back to reading modern magazines after looking at one. Find another copy of this one here on eBay for only $9.99, and many more are listed. We’d LOVE to have a stocking full of these.

Spun aluminum Raydyot mirrors were used on race cars throughout the 60’s and not just those from the UK. Theya re easy to mount and contrast paint colors nicely. Getting the authentic vintage examples is great, but the reproductions work fine as well. If our stocking was full of a half dozen of these, we might just have to go buy some cars to mount them to. Find this one here on eBay.

Suixtil is a retro clothing brand based on the same label and styles worn by Juan Fangio and his pals back in the ’50s. The brand was recently re-launched, and featured cool race pants, shirts, jackets, and accessories. We particularly dig the Florio Cotton Sweater, featured here for $110.

We found one of these sweet Hazet screwdrivers under the seat of a German car we purchased, and it quickly became one of our favorite tools we have ever used. This is the same brand that came in the factory tool rolls for vintage VW’s and Porsches. They are German made, and so far the best place we have found to buy them is here on eBay, where they ship out of Germany.

Meguiar’s Quik Detailer spray is something everyone should have in their garage or trunk. It is great for small clean-up between washes, and works on all surfaces of the car. Find it here at Amazon.com for under $10, and this little amount goes a long way.

We have never seen this Niki Lauda helmet horn button, but think it is about the coolest thing going for a vintage MOMO steering wheel. We are imagining it on an orange car with black interior. Find it here on eBay for $130.

If you don’t know the Filson clothing company out of the Pacific Northwest, you should. We love their products, and generally wish we could afford their whole catalog. Everything is made in the USA and very high quality. The Wool Weekender Coat below is a favorite of ours, and would work equally well in a Ford F-100 on the ranch or in an Austin Healey with the top down in December. Find them here at Filson.com for $295.

This one works for your two year old, but possibly also for adults. It is a children’s book called The Racecar Alphabet by Brian Floca, and it features cool illustrations of vintage grand prix and sports cars. It can teach a child the difference between a BMW 328, a Porsche 956, and a Tyrell 6-wheeler. Find it here on Amazon.com for only $12.

We flew our Dan Gurney for President decal on election day, and many asked where they could get one. It is the coolest stocking stuffer going. Find it here on Dan’s own AllAmericanRacers.com for only $12.

A good shop shirt is a cheap way to look sharp in the garage and stop ruining all your street clothes. Our favorite is the Dickies short-sleeve shop shirt in black, and they are cheap enough to rotate through a few. Find it here at Dickies.com for $20.

We recently were introduced to the Power Probe III circuit tester last year, and it is an impressive tool. We now use it more than our Fluke or any other voltage meter. Ours helped us get every circuit on a Saab Sonett working at the same time. Maybe it should be called a miracle tool. Find it here on Amazon.com for $101.

There you have it. Enjoy this list of interesting items, and do yourself a favor and pick some up for the holidays or 2013. Enjoy!

Comments

Thank you for including Suixtil in your list: we are very proud and certainly look forward to welcoming BaT friends. For reference all our Heritage line merchandise ships from our US distributor, Suixtil USA – what else? and is therefore not subject to any import hassle we have read about concerning other brands. Drop me a line if you need any help and wishing you all a super festive season and lots of happy drives! Vincent.

Thank you for a great list, and including Suixtil in it – we are very proud! Please note that all our merchandise ships from our distributor in the US (Suixtil USA) who has already cleared any custom issues (and there were none :-)) for you. So no hassle, no worries and your stuff gets to you in no time. Hope this helps and have a great time at the wheel. Vincent.

Super cool items for the man cave and car but more vintage items can be found on mainlyart.com go to the site or just click the above Sofst1 and click on the Motorizzare link lot of stuff added every week.

@ Rick, Customs is pretty hit-or-miss in my limited experience and I know that I, as a seller into foreign markets, just have no idea what is going to happen to my customers’ items as they go through those hoops. (other than the impression that stuff going to Italy or South Korea will have more problems than most of the other places I ship) But I cringe every time I fill out those Customs forms, and I filled out a bunch last week.

I bought a custom made set of coveralls from them. Not cheap at several hundred dollars. When they finally arrived in the US, they were held at customs and I had to pay another $100 in import duties. If you’re spending $500 on custom made coveralls, I expect that all costs should be upfront. Or the retailer to at least communicate on my behalf. Instead I was left with threats of government storage and dodgy Power of Attorney paperwork.

Magic Of Motoring were most unhelpful during the whole ordeal and to be honest, it felt like I was scammed.

What – no Porsche toilet seats? Hopefully,this will turn into a long list of cool items that others will post here. I just got my Christmas present – a ’69 Cortina estate,with a 1600E interior,wood- rimmed steering wheel,lowered,with a Capri 2 litre engine with headers,so I don’t expect anything else.

Disagree that Classic & Sportscar is best classic mag, as I personally think Octane is a more engaging read, with better photography (also biased as my car was on Octane’s cover a few months back :-). Otherwise great suggestions.

Sports Car Graphic was arguably the best car magazine for sports car types. I still have mine from about ’64 to end of publication. Great stuff . Jerry Titus was not only a good editor but a pretty good shoe.

Classic & Sports Car Magazine truly is a great magazine. I first learned of it when traveling in England and some kind traveler left a copy behind at the airport. I’ve been buying it at the newsstand ever since.

And if you buy something from Filson, it’s guaranteed for life. My hunting chaps started fraying at the cuffs after years of brush-busting, and when returned to Filson, were repaired for free. A great company.

You can also get the Power Probe III in a carbon fiber version, for those who like the look. They are on eBay for $99 with free shipping. In any case, anyone messing around with old cars needs something like this.

There’s a company called Couch that makes guitar straps, wallets, etc. from vintage automotive vinyl (among other materials). My wife gave me a wallet for my birthday made from vinyl designed for a 1960s GMC pickup and it’s one of my favorite gifts ever. They’re on Etsy, or just search Couch Guitar Straps.

The sparky in me would like that Power Probe tester. They make some pretty nice stuff, and it isn’t stupid expensive. IIRC, you can also get their stuff from the Matco truck, but of course you will pay the premium.

Nice selection! I wonder how the average internet savvy BaTista prepares for christmas? Usually, I order all my gifts online in octobre and surf through christmas season with a big, relaxed grin. So this comes late. ;)